User's Manual

Table Of Contents

ITCR Locomotive Radio User Guide

4/30/2013 Do Not Distribute 1

1. Overview

This document provides information required for the operation and verification of

the Meteorcomm Interoperable Train Control Radio Network (ITCR) Locomotive

radio.

1.1 Applicable Radio Models and Identifiers

This document applies to the Locomotive radio model listed below along with its

regulatory identifiers.

Model: 63020

FCC ID: BIB63020

IC: 1300A-63020

1.2 General Description

The Locomotive radios are designed to satisfy the industry standard Positive Train

Control (PTC) requirements as an integrated 220 MHz radio network. The Base radio,

Locomotive radio, and Wayside radio form the transportation backbone on which a

messaging application provides communication capabilities between railroad assets

and their back offices. The ITCR is designed to provide communication in an inter-

operable fashion enabling messaging to occur across railroad boundaries.

The Locomotive radio is a packet data radio that is part of a mobile station. It is half

duplex, i.e., it alternately transmits or receives. It is mounted in a designated

equipment area inside the locomotive. Its power source is the on-board 74Vdc bus.

It is connected by coax to a 220 MHz band antenna on the cab roof. It has an

ethernet connection to the on-board Train Management Computer (TMC) and

serves the TMC as a wireless off-board communication path. Its primary mission is to

receive data packets from Wayside radio stations about the track conditions ahead

of its intended path on the rails. This information is passed to the TMC which in turn

routes display information to the engineer’s console. The TMC also detects and can

independently react to potentially unsafe conditions. The Locomotive radio also

wirelessly communicates on 220 MHz with a nearby base station. The base station

backhauls the locomotive messages for various monitoring and control purposes at

the railroad central office. The Locomotive radio can also receive relayed Wayside

transmissions from any of several nearby base stations on different frequencies that

it can monitor simultaneously when not transmitting.